After a period of sharp decline coming out of the financial crisis, the banking industry has seen a rise in consumer confidence for two years in a row, according to a new survey of 32,000 banking customers in 43 countries. Read More »

A U.S. ruling to temporarily bar the Big Four’s Chinese affiliates from auditing U.S.-traded companies could throw a chill on a pipeline of Chinese companies looking to IPO in the U.S.

While the Big Four accounting firms have said they would appeal Wednesday’s decision by a Securities and Exchange Commission administrative law judge–calling for a six-month suspension of the firms’ ability to audit U.S.-traded companies–analysts say the uncertainty of the case could hurt U.S.-listed Chinese companies’ stock prices, as well as the pricing of companies looking to make their debut. Read More »

Today, just in time for Christmas, auditor Ernst & Young and one of its former partners was slapped with £1.2 million ($2 million) in fines and costs for failures in its audit work for a Christmas savings club that went bust in October 2006. Read More »